55 Results for : harpist
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Spring
About this recording Shigeru Hamada, Japan's most prestigious music critic, has written: "This is the debut album of the young harpist Tomoko Sugawara. Although young, she has long been active internationally and exudes calmness and confidence in her performance. The selection draws from both the standard and non-standard repertoire. Among the former are Glinka's variations on a theme by Mozart, 'La Source' by Hasselmans, 'Au Matin' by Turnier, and 'Chanson dans la nuit,' 'Tango,' and 'Rumba' by Salzedo. Most of these are original harp pieces, unique and rich in sprit. Some, like 'Clair de Lune' by Debussy and 'Ebb Tide' by Maxwell, are arranged pieces. There are also ensemble pieces, 'Entr´acte' and 'Deux Interludes' for flute and violin by Ibert. Tomoko Sugawara has fine technique and excellent ability to bring out the melody and emphasize it's structure. In addition, I like to mention her suppleness and flexibility. I am happy to report that a new promising player has appeared in the harp world. In particular, I would single out 'Deux Interludes' which have received few recordings, although one imagines there would have been many." Sumire Kuwajima, a former Professor of Harp at Tokyo University of Fine Arts adds: "The harp is called 'queen of instruments' for it's graceful shape and sounds. It is so delicate, moody, and hard to handle that it often annoys it's players. But Ms. Sugawara's harp seems to be a part of her body, and she can make it sing at will. Her sincere enjoyment of the sounds allows the audience to imagine the world as she hears it. Her warm nature, artistic quality, and prodigious talent give her listeners a relaxed, heart-warming sensation. I hope this CD will be enjoyed by people all over the world. - This CD was created using the finest recording technique which emphasize the best features of the instrument through the collaboration of the engineer and the performer. I consider this CD a 'classic' album."- Shop: odax
- Price: 22.18 EUR excl. shipping
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Spring & Fall
The music presented on this CD represents a selection of my songs and chamber pieces, most of which were written within the past seven years, but with a few going back as far as twenty-four. All are recorded here for the first time. The earliest works recorded here are a group of songs--'Dust of Snow,' 'My Love Is In A Light Attire,' and 'The Night Will Never Stay,'--written in 1981, during my student years. The remaining 7 songs date from 1999 and later. 'Spring and Fall' was originally sketched as a piece for treble chorus in 1999, but I revised it a couple of years later as a solo song. 'O You Whom I Often And Silently Come,' was written on the afternoon of December 31, 2000, making it my last twentieth-century work. In 2003, the song was the first winner of the Ned Rorem Award for Song Composition. 'I Sing Of A Maiden,' and 'The Angel's Song' are the first of what I hope will be a series of original Christmas Songs. All the songs are performed by Sarah Stone, mezzo-soprano, and my wife Martha Krasnican, piano. 'Prelude and Bacchanal' for violin, horn, and piano, was commissioned by hornist Brian Kilp, who premiered it during a tour of Bangkok and Singapore. He, Martha, and I have since performed it several times around the US, and the three of us appear on this recording. The title, I think, is self-explanatory. The three piano pieces were all written for Martha. 'Silent Delight' was written in 1992 shortly after we first met. The title comes from the Blake poem "Night": "The moon like a flower/In heaven's high bower,/With silent delight/Sits and smiles on the night." 'Chorale' and 'Scherzino' were both written in 2004. 'Reading Issa' for viola and harp was commissioned by harpist Vanessa Gong, who premiered it with violist Nai-Ying Liao in 2002. The title was suggested by a chance encounter with a website devoted to the haiku of Kobayashi Issa, which I came across after the piece was already under way. After completing each movement, I searched the site for an Issa poem that seemed appropriate, and placed it in the score in lieu of a title heading. I play viola on this recording, and Vanessa Gong plays harp. 'In Silence Under Many A Star' was commissioned by clarinetist John Spicknall, who premiered it in 1998 with his wife Sharilyn on violin and Martha on piano. The title comes from Whitman, it is taken from a stanza of the "Death Carol" section of his "When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd." Here, as in many of his poems, Whitman depicts Death as something kind, gentle, and comforting. In my composition, a recurring passage, marked "Very slow, delicate, and caressing," is identified in the score as a Danse Macabre. I play violin, Martha plays piano, and the clarinettist is Trina Gross.- Shop: odax
- Price: 20.91 EUR excl. shipping
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I Sonatori
This is a CD of music with harp by composer Christopher M. Wicks, with harpist Bethany Evans, violinist Eadie Anelli, and Mr. Wicks performing as a baritone. Included are settings of poems by such poets as Shakespeare, John Keats, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Sappho. Christopher Wicks' style has been often compared to that of Swiss-American mid-twentieth century composer Paul Hindemith. Violinist Eadie ANELLI holds a BA in Viola Performance from the California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo. With the orchestra of this city, she has toured to Australia, and she plays now in the Salem Chamber Orchestra in Salem, Oregon, and teaches music in the Salem Public Schools. Harpist Bethany EVANS holds a BM in Harp from the University of Arizona, a MM in Harp from the University of Oregon, and a JD from the Willamette University Law School in Salem, Oregon. She has made an earlier CD entitled 'Hymns of the Harp.' Composer and baritone Christopher M. WICKS has studied voice with such teachers as Debra Wilkie and Gail Desmarais, and also holds a BA in Music from Marylhurst University near Portland, Oregon, and a M.Mus. In Composition from the University of Montreal. His music has been performed in twelve American states, one Canadian province, and four European countries. He is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists.- Shop: odax
- Price: 20.41 EUR excl. shipping
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Saveja
Belinda and Mary are composers and performers of works across many genres and enjoy combining the territories of these varied styles of music. Their works traverse many landscapes, capturing scenes of rich complexity and simple brevity. With unique approaches to their respective instruments, Belinda and Mary take the flute and harp duo to new levels, creating sounds and textures that are expansive, multi-dimensional and at times unexpected. The compositions presented on this album have been developed over a number of years as a duo with the intention of melding compositional frameworks with improvisation. Whilst the compositions themselves are played with integrity, with harmonic and energetic structures retained, the blending of improvisation techniques into the works allow each player to contribute as an individual, spontaneously utilising their own unique, expressive devises to offer realisations of personal discoveries. Review by Andrew Lindsay... Free, open, lulling, gorgeous are the first words that come to mind on hearing this recording. It's a series of duets for flute and harp, the flute player is Belinda Woods, the harpist is Mary Doumany. There's a delight in hearing music that defies a category. Is this jazz, or new chamber music, or... Frankly, who gives a toss, when we are brought face to face with the sublime and the exquisite? I missed the Melbourne launch, at Northcote's Open Studio, though friends who caught it were rapturous. Having already heard the CD I was envious, but not surprised. Days after the launch I bumped into Belinda Woods, who has written the music, and asked her what it was all about. 'Imagine two Melbourne jazz girls get together and decide to do something different!' was her response. Two Melbourne jazz girls. They both have profound groundings in classical and neo-classical traditions, and yet they also share a love of jazz and improvisation. They are both virtuosic players. I asked Ms Wood how much of the music had been composed before the recording, and how much had been improvised. 'Does it all sound composed?' she asked, because to my ears it did. She revealed a magician's secret. 'The first track was completely notated. Other pieces exist as charts....' If that is true, then there are glories of improvisation revealed, and concealed, on this beguiling work. The communication between the players, and the improvisations they achieve together, are marvels. It sounds classical because it's flute and harp, and rejoices in revealing some vital musical underbelly. And yet it also reeks of jazz. It poses the question of what jazz can and cannot be. And finally renders the question obsolete, in the face of it's understated beauty, and the bliss and hauntings that it inspires, and revels in. Prepare for awe, and wonder, and delight. There are exquisite voicings on the flute, and flute players will know how difficult some passages are to achieve, while making them seem so effortless. Ms Doumany's gentle command of the harp renders the loquacious mute. It's surprising that Ms Woods has chosen this as her first release of her own compositions. Over the last decade I've heard her play in Bohjass, and Meter Maid, and the errant womens' marching band The Red Brigade, and Lo-Res, who only play her compositions. It's a marvellous, quirky, even risky feat, but those who know her playing will recognise some fundamental aspect of the woman in this choice. Her music is lyrical, reflective, and impulsive. A self-portrait achieved for flute and harp? I play Saveja to a friend, then ask 'Can I call this jazz?' She is adamant that I can't, but I've always enjoyed pulling a long bow. If you're a lover of new music, virtuosity, and sweet invention, you might want to check these two chicks out...and to my mind, it's definitely jazz, it's just a jazz we haven't heard before. It is both lyrical and edgy, the players make fantastic choices, and as it ends, you're waiting for the notes that never come, some vital space is left, and that empty space is full of music that's not yet played, the jass that's yet to come...- Shop: odax
- Price: 26.46 EUR excl. shipping
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Werke für Harfe
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra - Daniela Musca (Dir) // It was when Delphine Constantin-Reznik took up the post as a harpist in the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra that she first came across the name Anton Pratté, well-known in his lifetime as a harpist and composer. Her research into the music and activities of this forgotten master has now resulted in the very first recording of any of his numerous compositions for the harp.- Shop: odax
- Price: 16.59 EUR excl. shipping
